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The people living in the Federation's asteroid mine colonies are being wiped out for no apparent reason. Alien interference is suspected and Andrew Angello, explorer extraordinaire, has been drafted in to deal with the problem.

Andy travels to Eroc 1 to find that no-one is left alive. The only way to solve the mystery is to locate the bio-memory segments of the main computer, hidden deep within the mine workings on the asteroid. Once these have been located, the Federation can examine their contents and use the information they hold to combat the alien murderers.

The screen gives a side-on view of tunnels on Eroc 1. Dangerous alien machinery lies around the mines, so beware of anything that moves or looks nasty contact with it drains energy from the battery pack powering Andy's protective suit. Each of the four mine levels contains over 250 cells which Andrew has to investigate linked by the flip-screen method favoured by arcade adventure writers. Anti-gravity lifts allow travel between segments of a level, while automatic teleports link levels. Standing in a teleport for three seconds causes Andrew to disintegrate and rematerialise on another level. Every time Andrew uses an anti-gravity lift or teleport, or is zapped by a nasty, his battery pack loses a little power. As the battery powering Andrew's suit runs down, the screen changes colour from white, through yellow, red, mauve and finally blue. Death follows if the protective suit runs out of power.

A status panel reveals Andy's progress. One display shows the exits from the current cell; a clock ticks out the time expended on the mission and a meter shows the amount of charge remaining in the suit battery. An icon-driven menu allows the game position to be saved, once a cassette has been found in the mines, and the game computer can be asked for help. The game may be paused and a saved position loaded in.

Andy has to find tools and other useful objects in order to complete his mission. A slight oversight on the part of the Federation means that the intrepid explorer embarks on his adventure without a map. First priority must be to make one...

CRITICISM

'At first glance I found Core to be very similar graphically to Alphabatim's Robot Messiah - but without colour clash. The man is very easy to control, but he seems to move two characters along when he turns which is a bit of a pain when trying to run away from the baddies. The whole idea of the game is very similar to an Everyone's A Wally in space, but with scenery that's rather 'samey'. The animation is very smooth and the graphics are pleasing to look at, but apart from that I found Core to be a very large but rather boring copy of all the good arcade/adventures'

'Core has got a reasonable scenario, but the game itself is a bit lacking in content The game is technically above average, with a very large area to explore; it has got good graphics, but colour and sound am both average. I found it quite difficult to get to grips with the game and make any big advances. With the exception of Chuckle Egg II, A&F have been quiet for a while, and I can't believe that they've spent all that time just developing this. For ten quid, it's not one I'd hastily recommend to everyone I meet, but mapping freaks might find it a challenge to their abilities as it is pretty big, but it isn't mega-good..'

'I don't really know what to make of this one. At first sight it seems to be very good, but after a few goes it becomes obvious that you should be able to do more than just potter around a stack of screens. A quick reread of the instruction booklet uncovered the Icons, but not how to use or access them. I really did try to get on with them, but after a few more goes I'd given up trying to make the icons work for me. Graphically this game is excellent, the characters are well drawn and animated and the backgrounds add a nice touch too. My only gripe is that there could have been a little more colour. The sound is poor: there is no tune, and very few spot effects during the game. Although I can appreciate the nicer points of this game, I couldn't really get into it.'

Use of Computer73%Graphics76%Playability64%Getting Started68%Addictive Qualities67%Value for Money65%Overall68%

Screenshot Text

Our superhero materialises in a teleporter while two mobile nasties - a starburst and electro cloud hover in wait for him. Cameron's got his own personal dark cloud that follows him round on Monday mornings!